Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Iraq’s Kurdistan Sends Delegations To Talk With Baghdad About Disputes, But Brings Up Divisions Within Regional Government

In the last month or two there have been several high-level
meetings between representatives of Iraq’s central and Kurdish regional
governments. Most recently oil officials from Baghdad and Kurdistan met, while
a delegation from the Kurdish ruling parties and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
travelled to Baghdad to consult with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, amongst others. That might
give the impression that progress is being made in mediating the major disputes
between the two sides. In actuality neither side has budged on the substantive
issues, and there are differences within the KRG as well about how these
negotiations should be conducted.

In September and October 2012, there were four meetings
between Baghdad and Kurdish politicians to discuss the on-going problems they
have with each other. Deputy secretary general of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) Barham Saleh and the deputy KRG Prime Minister Imad Ahmed representing the ruling Kurdish parties and the regional government respectively headed two separate delegations. They met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the Sadrist bloc in parliament, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and others. On the same day, October 21, there was also a conference between KRG Natural Resource Minister Ashti Hawrami, Deputy
Premier Rowsch Nouri al-Shaways of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and
Deputy Premier Hussein al-Shahristani of State of Law who is in charge of the
country’s energy policy. Likewise, in September, Premier Maliki travelled to Sulaymaniya to meet with President Talabani after he returned from three
months of medical treatment in Germany. The Kurds wanted to go over the
Irbil Agreement, which put the current ruling coalition together after the 2010
election, the 19 points that the ruling Kurdish parties had Maliki sign in
return for their support for his second term in office, the Tigris Operations
Command, which has just been formed in Tamim, Salahaddin, and Diyala provinces,
and the oil industry. These are some of the outstanding issues the KDP and
PUK have with the central government. Baghdad for example, has called all of the oil deals the Kurdistan Regional Government has signed illegal, because it wants control over the country’s resources. This has
complicated attempts to pass a new oil and gas bill as well as the Kurds’
desire to export their petroleum. Likewise, Kurdish President Massoud Barzani
has become increasingly upset with the lack of power sharing within the government, feeling that the prime minister has tried to concentrate power in
his hands. Finally, the ruling parties in the KRG are alarmed that Maliki
recently created a new security command that covers some of the disputed
territories in Iraq, which they hope to eventually annex. All of these
issues have their antecedents in the struggle over the direction Iraq should
take since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Maliki on the one hand, feels like he
has to take a strong hand to keep the country together after all the chaos that
beset it following the 2003 invasion. In contrast, the KDP and PUK have been
pushing for greater autonomy for the Kurdish region, and feel that a strong
government like that which the prime minister hopes for will be an impediment
to their cause. While these get togethers may seem like the two sides are
at least talking with each other to resolve some of these differences, nothing
has changed the current stalemate. In the zero sum game that these officials
view Iraqi politics there is little room to compromise, especially on matters
that are so important such as the country’s oil and gas reserves.

At the same time, the Kurdish delegations have highlighted
the continuing differences within the KRG. A statement by the Kurdish Coalition
in parliament said that the Saleh-Shaways groups stood for all the Kurdish parties. In fact, it only represented the PUK and KDP. Before the parties
arrived in Baghdad, there was a meeting with President Barzani to go over their itineraries. The Change List did not attend, and later criticized the delegations as being partisan. That’s because Change and the two Kurdish
Islamic parties, have been calling for a national strategy for the Kurds formed
by consensus amongst all of the KRG entities. This is in part, because the
opposition has said that the ruling parties only represent their own agendas
when holding meetings with Baghdad. This points to the fact that within
Kurdistan there is a power struggle going on as well. The PUK and KDP have run
the region since the 1990s, and therefore consider themselves the
representatives of the Kurds. They have been very jealous of holding onto their
positions, and therefore resent the demands and attacks made by the opposition.
President Barzani especially, tends to act unilaterally, and expects the other
parties to fall in line behind him. The opposition parties are not always
willing to heed him, and want a real say in Kurdish policy vis-à-vis the
central government.

Iraq’s political parties have been battling for power even
before the 2010 parliamentary elections happened. Many of the arguments that
the KDP and PUK have with Maliki even predate that. The recent meetings between
the two sides are all part of this on-going soap opera. They will not be the
last as Baghdad and Irbil always have time to talk. The question is whether
anything will come of them. This also brings up the Kurdish opposition parties,
as they would like to be involved in the discussions as well. Maliki and the
KRG have been unwilling to budge from their positions. Likewise, the ruling
Kurdish parties have not been willing to take the opposition in Kurdistan that
seriously when it comes to dealing with the central government. Things remain
stalemated as a result, and will likely take many years, and perhaps a change
in leadership in both central and northern Iraq before any real change will
come about.

3 comments:

michaelagha
said...

With respect, you have the delegations confused. The Kurdistan parties delegation was led by Barham Saleh. The KRG delegation was led by DPM Emad Ahmed.But you are not the only one to be confused. see this: http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/5348.html